State President Truong Tan Sang met with a number of Asian and African leaders to discuss ways to step up bilateral ties and coordination at international forums in Jakarta on April 23 on the fringe of the 2015 Asian-African Conference (Bandung Conference).

At his meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, he congratulated Indonesia on successfully organising the Asian-African Conference (April 22-23) and the World Economic Forum on East Asia (April 19-21), hailing the country’s role in spurring cooperation between Asia and Africa in politics, economics and social affairs.

The two Presidents shared their delight in bilateral trade expansions that resulted in 5.4 billion USD in 2014 and agreed to address existing bottlenecks to raise the figure to 10 billion USD in 2018.

President Sang asked Indonesia to treat Vietnamese anglers humanitarianly with regard to the bilateral time-honoured friendship, while pledging to increase education on respecting Indonesian waters among the fishing community.

The leaders reached a consensus on continuing close coordination at regional and international forums towards regional peace, stability and mutual interests.

They reiterated the importance of safeguarding peace, stability, maritime security, safety and freedom in the East Sea, peacefully settling disputes in compliance with international law—including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, stringently abiding by the Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and working towards the early introduction of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

Meeting with Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahleb, President Sang affirmed that Vietnam sees Egypt as a crucial partner in Africa and wishes to establish stronger partnerships in telecommunication, oil and gas, aquaculture, agriculture and healthcare towards bilateral trade of 1 billion USD.

PM Ibrahim Mahleb said his country will send a delegation to Vietnam to discuss concrete measures for cooperation.

During a meeting with Palestinian PM Rami Hamdallah, President Sang reasserted Vietnam’s consistent policy of respecting its traditional friendship with Palestine and supporting Palestinian people’s quest for their fundamental national rights.

Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah expressed his hope that the two countries’ growing political ties would be mirrored in advantageous cooperative fields. He proposed increasing connectivity in seafood industry human resources.

President Truong Tan Sang and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe sought to deepen the two countries’ extensive strategic partnership through the exchange of high-level visits.

The Japanese PM pledged the provision of high-level official development assistance together with support for Vietnam’s sustainable development and increased competiveness, promising to encourage Japanese businesses to increase technology transfer to Vietnam.

President Sang shared his determination with Cambodian PM Hun Sen to forge ahead with the sound bilateral friendship and multi-faceted cooperation for the sake of the two peoples and peace, stability, and development in Southeast Asia.

He and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long concurred to employ stronger measures to accelerate trade and actively prepare for the commencement of the sixth and seventh Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks in Vietnam.

Also on the sidelines of the conference, State President Truong Tan Sang met with Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thoonglun Sisulith, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea Hwang Woo Yea and Moroccan Foreign Minister Mbarka Bouaida.

He attended the sixth plenary session and the closing ceremony the 2015 Asian-African Conference, which promoted “the spirit of Bandung” and economic development on both continents through strengthened South-South cooperation.

The two-day conference brought together heads of government and state and representatives from 109 countries and 25 international organisations worldwide.-VNA